4. One More Lie
It was past ten o'clock when Harry got back to the Kensington place. He had walked out of the mansion earlier than afternoon. After he was far enough from any curious eyes, he had apparated to the nearest town where he rented a small car.
He sure was glad that as part of his Auror training, he had had to learn how to drive and get a muggle driver's license. He needed the car to take Sally away. He couldn't apparate her.
It had taken him longer than expected to get the car and drive back. Once there, Harry hid the car as close as he could to the main entrance's gate. He then prepared himself for whatever could happen that night.
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There were still a few visitors in the mansion. After dinner, the newlyweds and those still there moved to one of the living rooms for coffee. Hermione not feeling very sociable, went into her room instead.
Sally looked at her wristwatch. It was 11:45 p.m. As the night advanced, she felt more relaxed. Harry hadn't given signs of life all afternoon. She thought of herself a lucky woman. Wanting to get some fresh air, she went to the open window.
Even thought it was dark outside, she distinguished a figure not far leaning on a tree. That someone was awfully familiar. Then, her senses told her it was Harry. Her mouth went dry all of a sudden. Her wands started shaking and her face turned into an expression of shock. He was there, waiting for her.
Harry, who had seen her come to the window, waved a hand at her. He could almost see her tremble.
A thought quickly came to Sally's mind: Hermione. Without saying a word to anyone, she left the room and ran upstairs towards Hermione's room. When she got there, she opened the door, not wasting time knocking.
"He's here! He's here, you gotta help me!" said Sally. She walked all the way to the armchair where Hermione was sitting, reading a book. Sally grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her.
"He's waiting! He wants me to go with him." Sally looked scared and her voice was shrilly. "I can't do it Hermione. You have to help me."
"What are you talking about?" Trying to free herself from Sally's strong grip, Hermione pulled her cousin away.
"Harry, he's here!"
"Didn't you say he left?" asked Hermione getting up.
Finally, Sally let go of Hermione and started pacing around the room. "That's what the guard told me, but I just saw him outside, waiting for me."
"Waiting for you?" asked Hermione, trying to understand why Sally was so anxious.
"Yes! He sent me a note saying he wanted to take me with him, tonight!" Then again, Sally went to Hermione trying to make her see the seriousness of the situation.
"He's insane!" said Sally, taking Hermione's hands in hers. "He said if I don't go, he's going to come looking for me."
Hermione pushed Sally down to make her sit on the bed. "He's not going to do anything like that." That just wasn't like Harry. Hermione could not imagine him trying to take Sally away by force.
"He is! I know he is. You have to talk to him Hermione." Sally stood up. The emotions she was feeling didn't let her stay still. "Tell him… tell him that I'll leave with him, but not now, not today."
"Are you mental?" Hermione could not understand why Sally liked to complicate her own life like this.
"Just make him believe that. I'll talk to him tomorrow. I reckon I can convince him to go away quietly." Sally started crackling her knuckles, trying to find a way to convince Hermione. She still wanted to keep seeing Harry, but she wanted to do things her way. She hated being pressured.
"Forget it! I'm not going to lie to him, and you shouldn't give him false promises either." Hermione couldn't believe how things had gotten so out of hand. Most of all, she hated being in the middle of it. She wished she could just leave and let Sally fix her own problems.
As if Sally could guess Hermione's thoughts, she quickly changed her attitude to portray the victim's role.
"Please, Hermione. You're the only one who can help me. I didn't want things to get this far. I… I don't want mum to hear about any of this. I don't think her poor heart could take it…"
Hermione had no choice but to accept. Reluctantly, she left the room to go find Harry.
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Charles had married Sally crazy in love. Yes, he knew that sometimes she behaved like a spoiled little girl, but he loved even that. He wanted to be the one who would make all of her wishes come true. He loved Sally's personality, so full of energy, always the life of the party, but for some reason her mood had seemed to change since the weeding.
He had noticed something weird happened to Sally that evening. He saw her running upstairs with an expression of shock after talking a look outside. Thinking that perhaps she saw something that upset her, Charles walked to the window.
After searching the garden with his eyes for a while, he noticed Harry in the same spot Sally had seen him. Charles recognized him.
"That's odd," he thought.
He then excused himself with his guests and went upstairs to look for Sally. Charles assumed Sally had gone to their bedroom, so he headed in that direction. He entered the room to find it empty.
"Perhaps she's in the bathroom."
With that thought in mind, he walked to the bathroom's door. He knocked, but there was no answer. To confirm she wasn't there, Charles opened the door and walked in. Then, he noticed something, a wrinkled piece of paper that had been carelessly thrown to the floor.
Charles picked the paper up and read the note Harry had left in Sally's hand earlier that day. He read it twice trying to digest those words. Instantly, a feeling of rage took him over.
"What's this? Harry… this note was for Sally?" Charles was desperately trying to make sense of it. He then recalled Sally's sudden faint when he had introduced her to Harry, her nervousness, her look of surprise.
"Could it be? Harry and… Harry and Sally!" Out of fury, his hands started to tremble. He could not believe it. There was something going on between them, between his wife and Hermione's friend.
"And I welcomed him into my house!" said Charles, talking to himself. "They must have laughed at me. Those two…" His breath was coming out in short gasps. He was so upset.
"He probably isn't even Hermione's friend. Maybe they just said that, but… I don't think Hermione would be part of this, would she?"
Feeling that he needed to clarify this whole thing, Charles left the room and went looking for his wife.
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Hermione went to the garden's shed. Sally told her that was the spot where Harry would be waiting for her. It was already midnight and there was no moon. The gardens were minimally illuminated by several lampposts, but the one close to the shed was broken.
Even through the dark, Hermione could see Harry's figure. He was pacing around, waiting. When he heard her footsteps, he looked up thinking it was Sally.
"What are you doing here?" Harry's voice was aggressive.
"Harry, I…"
"Where is she?" he asked looking over Hermione's shoulder, searching for Sally. "She sent you, didn't she?"
"No, I came to talk to you." Hermione was trying to make her voice sound calm, but she was afraid she wouldn't be able to convince Harry to leave. She had seen him this angry before. She knew how stubborn Harry could be.
"Talk to me?" repeated Harry. Sarcasm seemed to always be present in his words lately. "She wants me to go, right? She doesn't want me to take her away from this wonderful life she's found." Harry walked up to Hermione. "Well, you can go back and tell her that if she's not here in five minutes… I'll go get her. Even if I have to step over her dear husband."
"Why are you doing this?" asked Hermione, looking into his green eyes. "You're not like this, Harry. You wouldn't do that."
Harry looked back at her, fury in his eyes. "How do you know? She used me! She played with me while she was planning her life with that idiot." Harry walked away, giving his back to her.
"I know," replied Hermione. "I understand."
"No, you don't understand," he said turning to face her. "I was going to ask her to marry me. I asked Moody for a couple of moths off so I could spend time with her. You say you understand me? Well, you don't." He took a couple of steps away from her, breathing with difficulty.
"You will never understand. She was mine! You… you never had anything with Charles. He doesn't even know about your feelings, but Sally did. She was in my arms. I kissed her. I made love to her."
Hermione fell silent. Harry was right, not only about Sally but about Charles as well.
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Charles went looking for his wife to her mother's room, but she wasn't there. He immediately ran to Hermione's, almost certain that Sally would be there. Without knocking, he threw the door open. His wife was sitting on the floor by Hermione's bed. She looked as if she was trying to hide.
Charles quickly walked up to her and with one quick movement, grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up. Sally looked into his eyes. She had never seen him like that. Charles was always such a gentleman. She didn't know there could be so much fury inside him.
"Where is he?" he demanded to know.
"Who?" asked Sally afraid to hear his answer. "What are you talking about?"
"You know who. I'm talking about Harry… your lover," he threw the words at her face hoping those words would mark her flawless face.
Sally began to shake. "How did he found out?" she asked herself. But her frivolous side quickly woke up her mind. She had to talk her way out of this. She wasn't going to let anybody ruin her perfect marriage.
She straightened herself, trying to look composed. "What are you talking about dear?"
"Don't try to fool me. I found the note." Sally remembered she had been so stupid to leave it in the restroom, but she quickly hid her emotions.
"Oh, that's what you're talking about," she said, trying to sound innocent.
Charles, thinking she was trying to make fun of him, tightened his hold on her arms. "Now you remember, right? Now you know what I'm talking about."
"Darling, you're hurting me," she complained with a childish voice. Charles, however, didn't budge. "I can explain everything to you if you just let go of me."
Reluctantly, Charles loosened his grip and threw her to the bed. Sally fell into it and quickly sat up. "Okay, I'll tell you. I promised I wouldn't open my mouth, but…"
Again, Charles grabbed one of her arms. "Alright, I'll tell you," she said. Charles let go of her and stood up, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm waiting," he said after a few seconds. Sally's mind was frantically trying to find an explanation. Then, an idea came to her mind.
"But you first promise me you won't get mad at her," said Sally with pleading eyes. "I don't want you to get a bad impression of her."
"What are you talking about?" asked Charles confused by her words and her change of attitude.
Sally looked at her hands, as if she were struggling to decide whether to tell him or not. Finally, she spoke again. "Hermione," she said in a barely audible voice.
"What?"
"Hermione, she's… the note was for Hermione," she said still not looking up.
Charles thought for a moment, trying to remember if the note had the name it had been addressed to. Doubt came into his mind. The only name written on the note had been that of the person sending it. But who was the note really for?
"You're making this up!" yelled out Charles.
Sally finally looked up at him. She quickly stood up and placed a hand on her husband's arm. "I'm telling you the truth. Harry and Hermione have this… this thing. They've had it for a while now."
Charles looked into Sally's eyes trying to guess if she was lying. Noticing his doubts, Sally quickly continued, enlarging that lie as she went on.
"They're lovers, but they kept it quiet. Hermione told me he wants to take her away. Her parents don't like Harry."
"I saw them talking this morning. They seemed okay with Harry."
"That's because they don't know about them," quickly added Sally. She had forgotten Charles had seen them together earlier that day. "But once they find out, they're not going to be so pleased. That's why Harry sent her that note, 'cause he wants to take her besides her parents' complains."
Charles walked away from Sally, pondering the information she was giving him. Somehow it didn't make sense. He couldn't imagine Hermione in a situation like this, but then he remembered the previous day when he found them in the garden.
Even when they didn't say anything, Charles noticed Harry and Hermione had been arguing. He had seen Hermione's exasperated look. Perhaps it was true. Perhaps Sally was in fact telling him the truth. Still, the jealous, offended side of him made him doubt everything.
"You're making this up!" he yelled at her. "You're just trying to place the blame in someone else. You're lying to me!"
Sally trembled for a second, but her instinct wouldn't let her back off. "No!" she cried. "I'm telling you the truth. The note was for her. It was!" Sally started to fake little sobs trying to make him feel sorry for her.
"Please, believe me. I would never lie to you."
"Then, why didn't you ever tell me about them?" he asked firmly.
"She made me promise I'd keep the secret," responded quickly Sally. "If you want you can see it for yourself." As soon as Sally said that, she regretted it.
"How?" Charles demanded to know immediately.
Realizing it was too late to take it back, Sally went on. "She's talking to him right now. They're by the garden's shed."
Charles looked at her. "Okay," he said, grabbing her by the elbow. "Let's go then. I want you to repeat what you just told me in front of them."